Tina Fey and Steve Carrell turn in some solid comedic performances in a movie that is better than I expected it to be, but still felt a bit off for some reason I just can't place. Maybe it's the circular plot, or the outlandishness of the premise (despite being firmly grounded by the lead performers' natural demeanor and delivery). In any case, this was an enjoyable action-comedy, with an emphasis on the comedy half of that distinction, and there really are some laugh-out-loud moments - hell, even the usually not very funny "outtakes" at the end of the film contains a great one-liner from Tina Fey. The film also features more than a few really great cameos, and the action actually integrates into the comedy itself rather than sticking out as sore-thumb, tacked-on sequences. I know the trailer made this look like a less than worthy effort from all involved, but it really has been one of the best studio films I've seen this year.
I'm a sucker for nature docs, and this one featured a lot of gorgeous images that really made me want to go back and watch BLUE PLANET again. If you saw last year's DisneyNature release, EARTH, you know what to expect here as we track various animals across the world's oceans. Some of it is really jaw-dropping and magnificent, but there are a few minor quibbles I have as well: not giving us the names of species that only get a scant mention but are peculiar enough to warrant a full segment, and having no coherent storythread (other than, it seems, pollution is bad). Still, if this is your thing like it is mine, then I say see it. If you're looking for in-depth analysis of stuff...Eh.
After seeing THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, I was really looking forward to this follow-up to Eli Roth's original. Director Ti West is obviously capable of some top-notch work, but this ain't it. It takes an interesting premise: the skin-eating virus getting into a bottled water supply, but does absolutely nothing with it. Winston, the party-hard cop from the first film, is back and attracting plenty of trouble everywhere he goes, but instead of focusing on his predicament, which would have been fairly interesting, apparently it's a better idea to take us to a high school prom with a lot of uninteresting characters and slowly move toward the end with a lot of vomiting blood and a gory, pus-y penis. And yeah, that's gross and all, but there's nothing here to keep us interested. Blah of the highest order.
Jackie Earle Haley is an inspired casting choice for a reboot of the character of Freddy Krueger, but this film takes the awesome possibilities of his performance and squashes it with an absolutely humorless script that changes a whole lot of story elements for absolutely no reason. Nancy's character dynamics for one are completely changed. Her mother's no longer an alcoholic, her father's completely nonexistent, and she's some sort of shut-in weirdo with no real friendships to speak of. Even her love interest (played in the original by Johnny Depp) is deadened, with no chemistry that makes you care whether or not they help each other survive. And then there are the kills, which are so much more sadistic and brutal in the original film that it's almost laughable here. When people should be dragged kicking and screaming across walls and ceilings, or explode in a shower of blood, or any other set piece that got redone here, they float and then get slashed, or have a glove explode through their chest. This is possibly the least imaginative take on the Freddy universe I could have ever dreamed up. I could spend an entire full-length review summing up what's wrong about this movie, but what's the point? I'm done with it.
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